1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a fluid ejecting apparatus and an ejecting head maintenance method.
2. Related Art
There is known a fluid ejecting apparatus in which a cleaner such as a wiper is provided on a discharge-port forming surface of an ejecting head that ejects fluid. In addition, there is known an ejecting head maintenance method including wiping the discharge-port forming surface with a wiper, for example. As a technology for such apparatus and method, there is disclosed a technology to put a lid on nozzles with a small amount of ink flowing out thereof, to thereby eliminate concave meniscuses, to uniformly wet the lid, and to prevent air bubbles from entering the nozzles (see, for example, JP-A-59-131464).
In addition, there is disclosed a technology to minimize the negative effect of defective discharge caused by blade debris or thickened ink attached to the edges of the discharge ports after the discharge-port forming surface is wiped many times, and to maintain the wiping effect, that is, to constantly keep the edges of the discharge ports clean by wiping (see, for example, JP-A-5-338189).
However, when a high-viscosity ink having a viscosity higher than that of known inks is used in the above known fluid ejecting apparatuses and ejecting head maintenance methods, at the time of cleaning, thickened ink is rubbed against the nozzles, thereby damaging the discharge-port forming surface. When discharge ports having a diameter larger than that of known discharge ports are used, the force sucking ink from the discharge ports is increased, and ink remaining on the discharge-port forming surface is sucked into the ejecting head. This results in the absence of ink on the discharge-port forming surface at the time of cleaning, and the discharge-port forming surface is damaged by wiping.